Understanding and modelling children's outdoor activities based on interdisciplinary research

Background : The literature shows that children are spending less and less time outdoors, and that's a problem because numerous scientific studies emphasize the benefits of outdoor activities for children's overall development, and particularly for their physical, psychological, social and cognitive health, but also for their connection with nature, the awakening of their senses, autonomy and learning to manage risks. Spending time outdoors also means taking ownership of the living environment and discovering and respecting nature. It is important to encourage outdoor activities in children, while recognizing the fundamental role of supervising adults (parents or childcare professionals). This interdisciplinary research aims to better understand and model the outdoor activities of children aged 18 months to 18 years in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (WBF), and to identify the factors that influence them.
Methods-results: The interdisciplinary methodology combines online quantitative surveys of a large number of subjects, specific qualitative analyses of exemplary contexts and anthropological monographs in contrasting fields. The various methods all focused on the perceptions (benefits, obstacles, dangers, levers) and practices of the adults involved (parents, childcare professionals), as well as the children themselves. The results of this interdisciplinary research provide an overview of how children in WFB engage in outdoor activities in different settings and at different ages. It also shows that while the vast majority of the population is in favour of outdoor activities, there are still many obstacles. The interdisciplinary approach proved optimal for providing results that were both comprehensive and nuanced, revealing the complexity of each situation studied. An overall model of the problem is proposed on the basis of the mechanisms observed. Finally, a number of courses of action are proposed to increase children outdoor activities.
Conclusion: The interdisciplinary research has enabled us to gain a better understanding of the problems associated with children's outdoor activities in WBF and has led to the emergence of possible solutions, the effectiveness and relevance of which will need to be verified.